"... The Nature-Nurture controversy has been with us since it was first outlined by Plato and Aristotle. Nobody likes it anymore. All reasonable scholars today agree that genes and environment interact to determine complex cognitive outcomes. So why does the controversy persist? First, it persists becaus ..."

The Nature-Nurture controversy has been with us since it was first outlined by Plato and Aristotle. Nobody likes it anymore. All reasonable scholars today agree that genes and environment interact to determine complex cognitive outcomes. So why does the controversy persist? First, it persists because it has practical implications that cannot be postponed (i.e., what can we do to avoid bad outcomes and insure better ones?), a state of emergency that sometimes tempts scholars to stake out claims they cannot defend. Second, the controversy persists because we lack a precise, testable theory of the process by which genes and environment interact. In the absence of a better theory, innateness is often confused with (1) domain specificity (Outcome X is so peculiar that it must be innate), (2) species specificity (we are the only species who do X, so X must lie in the human genome), (3) localization (Outcome X is mediated by a particular part of the brain, so X must be innate), and (4) learnability (we cannot figure out how X could be learned, so X must be innate). We believe that an explicit and plausible theory of interaction is now around the corner, and that many of the classic maneuvers to defend or attack innateness will soon disappear. In the interim, some serious errors can be avoided if we keep these confounded issues apart. That is the major goal of this paper, i.e., not to attack innateness but to clarify what

"... For cognitive neuroscience to go forward a more explicit effort is needed to use neurophysiology to constrain how the brain produces human mental functions. This review begins with the suggestion that two fundamental features may be critical for this effort. The first is the connectivity of the brai ..."

For cognitive neuroscience to go forward a more explicit effort is needed to use neurophysiology to constrain how the brain produces human mental functions. This review begins with the suggestion that two fundamental features may be critical for this effort. The first is the connectivity of the brain, which occupies an intermediate position between complete redundant interconnections and independence. The term semiconnected is presented as a designation, which is an obvious derivation of the term semiconductors as used in engineering. The second is transient response plasticity where a given neuron or collection of neurons may show rapid changes in response characteristics depending on experience. Response plasticity is a ubiquitous property of the brain rather than a unique characteristic of &quot;neurocognitive&quot; regions. These two properties may be brought together when brain areas interact such that their aggregate function embodies cognition. Three examples are used to illustrate these ...

"... Abstract6Contrary to the classical view of a pre-determined wiring pattern, there is considerable evidence that cortical representation of body parts is continuously modulated in response to activity, behavior and skill acquisition. Both animal and human studies showed that following injury of the p ..."

Abstract6Contrary to the classical view of a pre-determined wiring pattern, there is considerable evidence that cortical representation of body parts is continuously modulated in response to activity, behavior and skill acquisition. Both animal and human studies showed that following injury of the peripheral nervous system such as nerve injury or amputation, the somatosensory cortex that responded to the dea¡erented body parts become responsive to neighboring body parts. Similarly, there is expansion of the motor representation of the stump area following amputation. Reorgan-ization of the sensory and motor systems following peripheral injury occurs in multiple levels including the spinal cord, brainstem, thalamus and cortex. In early-blind subjects, the occipital cortex plays an important role in Braille reading, suggesting that there is cross-modal plasticity. Functional recovery frequently occurs following a CNS injury such as stroke. Motor recovery from stroke may be associated with the adjacent cortical areas taking over the function of the damaged areas or utilization of alternative motor pathways. The ipsilateral motor pathway may mediate motor recovery in patients who undergo hemispherectomy early in life and in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy, but it remains to be determined if it plays a signi¢cant role in the recovery of adult stroke. One of the challenges in stroke recovery is to identify which of the many neuroimaging and neurophysiological changes demonstrated are important in mediating recovery. The mechanism of plasticity probably di¡ers depending on the time frame. Rapid changes in motor represen-tations within minutes are likely due to unmasking of latent synapses involving modulation of GABAergic inhibition.

"... “Origins of communicative disorders ” to Elizabeth Bates, and by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. We are grateful to Larry Juarez and Meiti Opie The effects of focal brain injury are investigated in the first stages of language development, during the passage from firs ..."

“Origins of communicative disorders ” to Elizabeth Bates, and by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. We are grateful to Larry Juarez and Meiti Opie The effects of focal brain injury are investigated in the first stages of language development, during the passage from first words to grammar. Parent report and/or free speech data are reported for 53 infants and preschool children between 10- 44 months of age. All children had suffered a single, unilateral brain injury to the left or right hemisphere, incurred before six months of age (usually in the pre- or perinatal period). This is the period in which we should expect to see maximal plasticity, but it is also the period in which the initial specializations of particular cortical regions ought to be most evident. In direct contradiction of hypotheses based on the adult aphasia literature, results from 10- 17 months suggest that children with righthemisphere injuries are at greater risk for delays in word comprehension, and in the gestures that normally precede and accompany language onset. Although there were no differences between left- vs. right-hemisphere injury per se on expressive language, children whose lesions include the left temporal lobe did show significantly greater delays in expressive vocabulary and

"... The Nature-Nurture controversy has been with us since it was first outlined by Plato and Aristotle. Nobody likes it anymore. All reasonable scholars today agree that genes and environment interact to determine complex cognitive outcomes. So why does the controversy persist? First, it persists becaus ..."

The Nature-Nurture controversy has been with us since it was first outlined by Plato and Aristotle. Nobody likes it anymore. All reasonable scholars today agree that genes and environment interact to determine complex cognitive outcomes. So why does the controversy persist? First, it persists because it has practical implications that cannot be postponed (i.e., what can we do to avoid bad outcomes and insure better ones?), a state of emergency that sometimes tempts scholars to stake out claims they cannot defend. Second, the controversy persists because we lack a precise, testable theory of the process by which genes and environment interact. In the absence of a better theory, innateness is often confused with (1) domain specificity (Outcome X is so peculiar that it must be

"... Activation maps in the primary motor cortex (M1) were investigated in three patients with complete spinal cord injury (SCI) at the level of TH3, TH7 and TH9 and in one patient with an incomplete spinal cord injury at the level of L1 during right elbow (4 patients), right thumb (4 patients), bilatera ..."

Activation maps in the primary motor cortex (M1) were investigated in three patients with complete spinal cord injury (SCI) at the level of TH3, TH7 and TH9 and in one patient with an incomplete spinal cord injury at the level of L1 during right elbow (4 patients), right thumb (4 patients), bilateral lip (2 patients) and right foot (3 patients during imagined, 1 patient during executed) movements using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI). Compared to control fMRI activation maps of patients with complete paraplegia showed a cranial displacement of the activation maxima in the contralateral primary motor cortex during elbow movement of 13.3 mm, whereas the maxima of thumb and lip movements were not altered. The patient with an incomplete spinal cord injury revealed no displacement of elbow activation maxima. The Cortical plasticity and cortical reorganization reflects the ability of the cortex to adapt to changing conditions [1]. After complete peripheral neural injury a shift

"... primate striatal matrix, terminating in distributed sets of overlap-ping projection zones (matrisomes) within the putamen. To study this system quantitatively, we have developed a computer-assisted estimation of the changes in magnification that occur as motor and somatosensory cortical body represe ..."

primate striatal matrix, terminating in distributed sets of overlap-ping projection zones (matrisomes) within the putamen. To study this system quantitatively, we have developed a computer-assisted estimation of the changes in magnification that occur as motor and somatosensory cortical body representations are projected onto the putamen. 2. Cortical and striatal body maps were assessed in squirrel monkeys by injecting anterograde tract tracers into electrophysio-logically identified body-part representations in cortical areas 4, 3a, 3b, and 1. Relative projection magnification was defined as the ratio of the cortical injection site volume to the striatal projection site volume. 3. Magnification comparisons indicate that the tracers wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase ( WGA-HRP) and “‘S-methionine have similar sensitivities. 4. The relative proportions of body-part representations in the striatal maps were not significantly different from those in cortical maps. Both had large representations of hand, foot, and mouth, and smaller representations of trunk. 5. The relative magnification of the motor cortex projection to the striatum was roughly twice as large as those of projections from individual somatosensory areas. 6. These findings suggest that, in the sensorimotor striatum, motor and somatosensory inputs may undergo different proportions of local processing at the borders of their distribution zones (strio-somes and matrisomes).

by
Travis Thompson
- JOURNAL OF THE EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF BEHAVIOR , 2007

"... This paper proposes that an organism’s integrated repertoire of operant behavior has the status of a biological system, similar to other biological systems, like the nervous, cardiovascular, or immune systems. Evidence from a number of sources indicates that the distinctions between biological and b ..."

This paper proposes that an organism’s integrated repertoire of operant behavior has the status of a biological system, similar to other biological systems, like the nervous, cardiovascular, or immune systems. Evidence from a number of sources indicates that the distinctions between biological and behavioral events is often misleading, engendering counterproductive explanatory controversy. A good deal of what is viewed as biological (often thought to be inaccessible or hypothetical) can become publicly measurable variables using currently available and developing technologies. Moreover, such endogenous variables can serve as establishing operations, discriminative stimuli, conjoint mediating events, and maintaining consequences within a functional analysis of behavior and need not lead to reductionistic explanation. I suggest that explanatory misunderstandings often arise from conflating different levels of analysis and that behavior analysis can extend its reach by identifying variables operating within a functional analysis that also serve functions in other biological systems.

"... 1 The dual nature of touch has long been understood. The sense of touch seems to carry information at the same time about the external object touching our skin, and also about our body itself. However, the nature of this interaction has remained obscure. We present an analytic model of how tactile i ..."

1 The dual nature of touch has long been understood. The sense of touch seems to carry information at the same time about the external object touching our skin, and also about our body itself. However, the nature of this interaction has remained obscure. We present an analytic model of how tactile information interacts with mental body representations in the brain. Four such interactions are described: the link between the body surface and the maps in primary somatosensory cortex, the contribution of somatosensory cortical information to mental body representations, the feedback pathway from such higher representations back to primary tactile processing in somatosensory cortex, and the modulation of tactile object perception by mental body representations. 2 Introduction and model Touch is often considered by neuroscientists under the general heading of

"... The success or failure of neural circuit rewiring through axon regeneration depends on the interplay between two main determinants. The injured neurons must synthesize structural components for outgrowing processes and activate signal transduction pathways to sense and decode guidance cues. At the s ..."

The success or failure of neural circuit rewiring through axon regeneration depends on the interplay between two main determinants. The injured neurons must synthesize structural components for outgrowing processes and activate signal transduction pathways to sense and decode guidance cues. At the same time,